Valentine's Spat
by Zero Launcher
Summary: While you wait for the next chappie, here's a little morsel to munch on. Enjoy!


*Yeah, hi. It's been a while, hasn't it? Well, Image of a Hero is giving me some plothole trouble so while I try to fix that, there's a one shot fic to keep you placated. Now, it uses the same characters but isn't set in the same time line. Think of it like a DBZ movie; it *seems* like you could fit it into the normal timeline, but there's always something to screw it up.*  
  
Will You Be My Valentine?  
  
Shifting main characters, a weary FOcaseal awakes in her bed. Her purple hair is in complete disarray, obscuring the sight of her lovely face. She unceremoniously flips over, barely managing to keep the blanket over her bare form. Seconds later, her eyes snap open, then narrow as if in disgust at her own consciousness. Careful to keep the soft, quilted blanket around her, she rises to a sitting position in her bed and comes to bearings.  
  
"Damn…I was hoping I could sleep through this stupid day…"  
  
Sighing in disappointment, the girl stands to her full 5'7 and lazily walks herself into the bathroom of her studio dorm. A quick shower later, she comes out, dripping wet, with a towel draped around her. Going about the routine task of getting dressed, her mind considers what may happen today.   
  
"I probably won't be able to avoid him completely today…but still; talking to him on this day is going to be so awkward…"  
  
Not concerned that she's talking to herself, she slips into the main component of her daywear, the red, barely there, two piece outfit common among Forces. …The female ones anyway. Next, she wrestles with her boots to get them on.  
  
"And I don't even want to *see* Lea today, nevermind talk to her…"  
  
Having completely her dress by putting on her gloves, she exits her dorm, totally unprepared for what may happen today. It doesn't take her long to leave her dorm block entirely and enter a more populated area.   
  
********  
  
But hey, this is getting boring. Let's switch over to someone a bit more active. Such a switch requires the environment to change drastically. Instead of a cramped dorm, the area is wide open, circular in nature. The floor is tiled with light green, translucent blocks while the walls are plastered with monitor screens, displaying a view of the floor. And instead of a cute girl, we have a huge, brown dragon with a very large wingspan, and a long spiked neck. The Gol Dragon to be specific.   
  
"Guh…Maybe I should've brought help…"  
  
That little musing comes from a boy, clad in tight spandex, dodging a torrent of lightning pouring from the Gol Dragon's mouth. His white bodysuit is covered in blood of all colors, but none of it red. It would seem that he's been dealing out 100% of the pain so far.   
  
"Have to get in close…"  
  
While contemplating a battle strategy, the boy doesn't notice the loud footsteps coming from behind; merely assuming those sounds are being made by the dragon in front of him. Silly boy. He's never been through Episode 2. No, there is in fact another dragon behind him, making for a total of two in the room. By the time the long black haired HUmar realizes this, he's been showed in a hail of ice, encasing him within an ice block. It only takes him seconds to break loose, but by that time, he's being showered with fire by the dragon in front of him.  
  
"What?! There's two?!! Agh…I don't need this kind of grief…"  
  
The teen breaks loose of the flank, running to the other side of the battlefield. When he gets around to looking back, there's only one dragon. Frowning, the bearer of Rhapsody puts up his Musashi, and runs at his target. The Gol Dragon takes a swing at the charging pest, but the hero shows formidable finesse and hops on the dragon's wing as it passes by.   
  
"This idiotic simulation ends here! Kumori…"  
  
Before he gets to use his signature attack, the dragon clone enters from the warrior's blind spot and greets him with lightning breath. X, as you've figured out by now, screams in pain, falling off his perch on the wing. X surveys the field once again and finds two dragons. It's getting annoying.  
  
"Rrr…Kumori…Hakumei…"  
  
The sound of a power down fills the room and the environment grows dark. X's eyes switch view from the battle he was just fighting to the inside of a tight, small capsule. The top of the capsule flies open, revealing a young technician in daisy dukes and a green shirt. It's the headset she's wearing that tells she's a technician. The frown on her face reveals the fact that she's less than pleased.  
  
"X, how many times do we have to tell you?! The VR Sim can't handle the power output you create when you do that!"  
  
X hops out from his capsule and looks away into space, clearly having no interest in what's being said. Running his right hand through his long blond hair, he gives his explanation.  
  
"Meh. Either way, the simulation would've ended with that move. It's no big deal."   
  
"Says you! You have to defeat the Gol Dragon if you want your S-Rank license renewed! And you won't do that if you break the console everytime you use that…thing!"  
  
"Give me a break 'Elle'. I'll get it next time."  
  
X's operator, Elly, visibly calms down and takes a deep breath.  
  
"So, you're gonna try again?"  
  
X looks up at the ceiling with a faraway look on his face. That look melts into a depressed face and a depressed sigh. He then shakes his head and walks off to the teleporter that'll lead him back to town.  
  
"No thanks. I have…things to do today. Maybe later."  
  
********  
  
"I've never tried using the Hunter's Guild before…maybe that'll take my mind off things."  
  
The purple haired FOcaseal regards the entrance to the Hunter's Guild for a few moments, and then walks in. The double doors slide open allowing sight of the clerk. After giving her name and requesting a mission, the clerk goes to work on her keyboard, looking for something.  
  
"Ah, here's one! It's from a Dr. Montague-"  
  
"I'll do it. Just tell me when to meet him."  
  
"Just wait here, he'll arrive in a few minutes."  
  
The Force turns around, just in time to bump into a teenage boy. The boy merely staggers backwards a step, but the Force lands on her fanny. None too pleased…  
  
"You idiot! Watch where you're going!"  
  
"Actually Nalia, you bumped into me."  
  
Nalia's head shoots straight up to catch a look at the famous sweatdrop pose, as modeled by X. She hops to her feet before he can lend a hand and makes a strained effort not to look him in the eyes.  
  
"I figured you'd be out with Lea today."  
  
"…Her quest is taking longer than expected. Rapp says they won't be back 'till nightfall. So I'm just killing time."  
  
Before the young HUmar can add anything else, Dr. Montague's form appears in the room. Noticing the two hunters, he smiles and walks over. Nalia looks up to her client while X looks over his shoulder.  
  
"Great, two hunters!"  
  
"Actually, he's not-"  
  
"Oh, but I am."  
  
"…Heh. Here's the job! I need you to go rescue my baby, Eleanor! She was abducted from my lab during the night. I awoke in time to get her distress call, but…"  
  
"Who took her?" X asks, already frowning in disgust.  
  
"The Black Paper syndicate. They probably…want to…"  
  
"No need to finish. It must be hard." X responds, sparing the good doctor the pain of having to finish that sentence. After all, no one likes to think of their child, their RAcaseal built from scratch, being taken apart for spare parts.   
  
"Well, off to the Mines. That's the logical place; all that machinery would work great for running an illegal crime ring. You can come along if you really want to…" Nalia spins on her heel and walks out of the Hunter's Guild. X, having already invited himself, jogs after her.  
  
********  
  
A hop, skip and a teleport later, the duo ends up in Mines 2. The Gilihics pose no threat to the duo, having dealt with much stronger. So, X just knocks them aside with his Musashi blades while Nalia gets the ones he misses with Gizonde. An hour or so of this finally leads up to what seems like an inhabited area. An electric fence with a guard at the opening blocks further progress. Luckily, when the two come up to this area, the guard is looking away from the entrance they used to enter the wide open area.   
  
"Get down!" X grabs Nalia by the shoulders and pulls them behind some boxes. On landing, Nalia falls right on X's body, making for a rather awkward position. The two look each other in the eyes for a moment, then quickly scramble to get off each other. Pretending like nothing happened, they begin their stakeout.   
  
********  
  
"Dammit, this is boring…"   
  
A half hour later produces a very bored Nalia and a mildly pissed off X. But finally, things are about to get messy! The guard moves from his blocking position and allows passage to a HUmar in a black jumpsuit and eye patch. Saying something to the guard, he points in back and nods. Then, he removes something from a pocket. A…telepipe. Before he can return to the ship, X hops out from his hidings and whips out the Musashis.   
  
"Hey, you! I want words!"  
  
The man in black turns around in surprise to the boxes X was just hiding behind. Immediately placing X's face to the reputation, he begins to laugh out aloud behind his white mop of hair.   
  
"So, you're finally here to bust us?!"  
  
"Yeah, that's right-"  
  
Nalia jumps from her coverings and lands in front of X, stopping him in mid speech. Annoyed, she stares him in the eye.  
  
"May I remind you that we're just here for Eleanor?"  
  
"Yeah, but-"  
  
By this time, the HUmar is charging at X, with a Gladius raised. Before he can strike though, a volatile ball of fire streaks over X's right shoulder and carries the HUmar off in the other direction. X looks behind him to see Nalia lazily waving her fingers, getting rid of some residual flame.   
  
"Sure, suck all the fun out of it."  
  
"Either way, it wouldn't have been a decent scrap."  
  
They don't spend much time inside before finding the objective of their quest. Eleanor, the pink RAcaseal, is laid out on the floor, deactivated. Hoisting the android on his shoulder, he looks off to the far end of the stock room. Noting the dilapidated environment, he winces.  
  
"Okay, let's have a Ryuker-"  
  
"Ah, X!"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
X turns around to see what has Nalia so spooked. Upon seeing it, X's face falls. In his sight is the form of what used to be the greatest of all Hunters. But now, it's merely the shell of Red Ring Rico, the orange haired, bifocal wearing HUmarl. Her eyes pouring out black energy make it clear that she's something else altogether now. The photon density in the room increases ten fold, making for a very intimidating aura. Nalia feigns some courage by striking her whip on the ground and getting into a battle stance. X on the other hand, merely stays relaxed.  
  
"What do you want now Rico? Last time we saw each other, Lance stuck his hand through you. You want mine in there too?"   
  
Rico lifts a gloved hand to her lips and chuckles with a cruel undertone. Slowly lifting her head to regard X, she smirks with evil intent.  
  
"No, I'm just here for some amusement."  
  
"Good, then go knock around some Sinow Beats. Me and the rest of my crew will be down to kick your ass soon enough."  
  
All of X's experience manifests itself in his voice. He's cool, he's calm, and he says all of this with just a hint of arrogance. For whatever reason, he's not really worried about this monster that blew the Central Dome to a million bits. All of this relaxes Nalia visibly as shown by her slowed breathing.   
  
"You're cocky, as usual. Well, you won't be; not after this!"  
  
Rico waves her hand in Nalia's general direction, enticing quizzical expressions from the two. A second later, a bomb ignites within Nalia's head, causing her to clutch her head in pain. In crazed, excruciating pain, she stumbles about as if to escape from some corporeal being causing her this pain. X looks on in shock and horror, trying to figure out what he can do.  
  
"What are you doing to her?!!" screams the enraged emissary of Light. Rico merely laughs once more and answers X's question.  
  
"There's such a large amount of jealously flowing from that poor girl! It's quite a simple task to infect her with my consciousness. You should really surround yourself with friends of purer heart! Ta."  
  
Rico fades off, leaving X to tend to Nalia. X runs over, putting what Rico said in the back of his mind. Big mistake. As soon as he bends down to help Nalia up from her crouched stance, he gets smacked away by a gloved hand. X lands on his backside, losing his grip on one of the Musashi.   
  
"Hey, Nalia, fight it!!"   
  
"I'd rather not."  
  
Nalia rises up, but keeps her head bowed. X hops to his feet, prepared to defend himself. Nalia's head picks up all too suddenly and shows the same malice that's eternally present on Rico's face. Without warning, her whip lunges forward at X. The sudden strike causes X to put up his left arm as a guard. The whip wraps around it, securing a tight grip. Nalia pulls on her whip with strength far greater than X has ever experienced.  
  
"You…I can't stand you! You have absolutely no regard for my feelings, do you?!" Just a tad pissed off, Nalia lets loose with a Foie as X comes close. Completely unable to dodge, X takes a direct hit to the face. Taking the hit in stride, X takes his single blade and slashes at the whip, breaking free from Nalia's hold. Cursing, he flips back to what he thinks is a safe range.  
  
With a dire sense of urgency, X screams, "That's not true! Nalia, it's Rico's influence! Fight it!" His request goes unheeded and instead, he gets a row of ice spikes to dodge. He runs, trying to keep ahead of their pace, erupting from beneath the ground. Nalia looks on with callous indifference, reveling in the power of Dark Falz.   
  
Finally, X concludes that he doesn't have much choice in the matter. So, he gets ready to go on the attack. "Rrr…you're not giving me any choice…" X breaks into a full dash, hurling himself at Nalia. As he passes by, he thrusts with his Musashi, just managing to score Nalia across the chest. But, as Nalia sidestepped, he's open to attack. Nalia wraps her whip around X's midsection and winds it up so they're face to face.  
  
"It's always Lea! Always her! If she hadn't gone on that quest, you wouldn't have given me the time of day!  
  
"What the hell are you talking about?! I've spent this entire day stressing over how you might-"  
  
"Enough!" Nalia pulls out her whip, unwinding it and throwing X into a nearby wall in the process. X recovers quickly though, landing his feet on the wall and sending himself back in Nalia's direction. Finally deciding that he's not talking to Nalia anymore…  
  
"And this is for Nalia!" he screams, just as he ax kicks Nalia up into the stale air of the Mines. Placing his feet firmly on the ground, he sticks the single Musashi into the ground and throws out his arms. A series of lighting quick and random arm movements, leading up to his palms held outward in front of his face.  
  
"Rakuhouha!"  
  
A volleyball sized sphere of yellow energy forms in front of X's palms within a second. It fires itself off at Nalia who's just about to hit the ground. On contact, it explodes into a very flashy explosion, leaving smoke everywhere. X, not being quite as stupid as certain other fighters, doesn't assume that his enemy's defeated within the smoke cloud. So, when Nalia bursts forth, he meets her charge with a raised Musashi. Nalia's whip lunges forward and parries with X's blade until it's knocked from his hands to the far end of the field.   
  
"Dammit!" X runs for his blade, but Nalia easily beats him to it. Casually lifting the sword from its niche in the ground, she raises her hand and fires off a series of Foie spells. This time, X is ready and he easily bats them away with the use of his right arm. But, the distraction allows Nalia to come in close out of the blue, catching X completely off guard. The look shock on his face quickly turns into pain as Nalia shoves X's Musashi into his right shoulder.   
  
"Argh!!!"  
  
"How does it feel? That's what I feel in my heart everytime I wake up in the morning. Not that you would care."  
  
X falls on his back, clutching his badly wounded shoulder. He can only moan in response to Nalia's taunting. After several seconds of intense pain, he struggles to get on his feet. He makes it to his knees, still clutching his shoulder. His right arm remains limp, unable to move.  
  
"Now you wretched little boy; you die. Grants…"  
  
Nalia raises her right arm and twirls her whip around her body, chanting some arcane phrases. Despite impending death, X continues to rise and finally makes it to his feet. Unable to melee any longer, he decides to go with the only option he has left.  
  
"These are my tears…my anger…sorrow…and all, my, love!!!"  
  
X opens up his left palm at waist level and begins charging his best technique, his signature attack, the Kumori Hakumei Kyousoukyou. However, Grants goes off first. White, holy energy pours from Nalia's body, engulfing the entire room in a bright, white light. X gets knocked around by the waves of energy, but then…  
  
"This is all my hate for you, you bastard."  
  
Surprisingly, X manages to get a few words off. "Rhapsodic Wall!!" From deep within the swirling mass of holy energy, a wall pushes out from beneath revealing X's body, pushing away the white magic. The spell is nullified by X's wall, allowing him to use his own attack.  
  
"Kumori Hakumei Kyousoukyou!!"  
  
X thrusts his left palm forward and lets loose with the deadly wave of purple energy. The attack hits Nalia dead on. At first, she manages to mount a resistance, but the beam overtakes her and consumes her. Thoroughly disoriented, X is free to run in and grab her face with his palm.  
  
"Rhapsody! Release and dispel!"  
  
The Rhapsodic Finger works its magic on Nalia, exorcising the darkness from her soul. A black mist floats up from Nalia's body and scatters into the wind. Nalia falls, defeated. Exhausted, X does the same. But, he manages to maintain consciousness and make good an escape with Nalia and their objective, Eleanor, in tow.  
  
********  
  
Hours later, after having received the award, Nalia is at the Hospital counter, waiting for something, or someone. The nurse at the desk appears to be telling her something…  
  
"He'll be done in a few minutes. His arm was in pretty bad shape, but it'll be okay."  
  
On cue, X walks out from back, looking as good as new. He raises his forearm to gesture that he's fine and makes for the door with Nalia right behind him. A short stroll brings them to a bridge over looking the residential area of Pioneer 2. The view is incredible, especially if you're leaning over the railing, like X is. The brilliant display of lights is enough to lift any mood…except this one. Nalia, leaning on the rail, looks to her left and decides to make conversation.  
  
"I remember the entire thing…I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" The sound of sobbing is present in her voice, breaking down to tears. Not being able to look X in the eye, she repeats her apology like a mantra until X places his still sore arm around her.  
  
"It's not your fault. You didn't want to hurt me, right?" the young hero probes, trying to get his friend to look at the situation rationally. Nalia shakes her head furiously, immediately denouncing the thought. X nods and walks in close. X leans in a bit, as does Nalia.  
  
"X?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"I know…that you can't ever feel…that way about me…but…can you pretend? Just for now? I…want to stay like this…"  
  
"…" is X's response, but the expression on his face tells all. He gives a comforting squeeze and wanders into his thoughts.  
  
I can't fake something that's already real…why is my life so hard?  
  
~Fin  
  
*Well, that's the end of Movie 1. Like it? Maybe I'll do this again if writer's block hits me. Now, remember, this is alternate reality. What you see here isn't necessarily what the two think in the main timeline. …Though, I think it's bloody obvious which girl I prefer.  
  
Anyway, I'm online with my Gamecube! So, if you wanna hang with your favorite author, come find me in Antares 8, on weekends. I'll be on as either X Launcher, or one of the main characters from this story.* 


End file.
